478 



When in 1888 two applications for concession were made, one 

 by A. Langen, who had received from a Chinese a specimen of granite 

 and likewise a specimen of tin-ore, said to be originating from "the 

 river Aspana", and a second by R. van den Broek ^) with 4 others, 

 who requested to be allowed to explore 100000 bonws (1), the 

 Governor General C. Pijnakkek Hordijk resolved to have an investigation 

 made by an expert into the supposed abundance of tin-ore in Flores. 

 By resolution of the 20^'' Sept. 1889 n". 18 the mining-engineer of the 

 Department of Mines C. J. van Schelle was appointed leader of 

 the expedition. The expedition left Batavia on the 15^'' Nov., and 

 an-ived the 30^'^ next at Kupang. After the resident of Timor had 

 ordered the magistrate E. F. Kletan to accompany the expedition, they 

 left on the ^''^ Dec. for Larantuka and afterwards to Endeh, where 

 the assistant magistrate F. A. Brugman joined them. On the 10"» they 

 disembarked at Soa, situated on the westside of the Aiméré Bay, and 

 a reconnoitring-expedition was undertaken in a north-eastern direction 

 as far as the village of Foan, where however none of the inhabitants 

 could be prevailed upon to accompany the expedition to Langga, 

 "which village is said to be situated in the neighbourhood of the 

 "tin-region". 



After their retiii-n on the 11"' December they went into bivouac 

 which they left again on the 15"i. After a 10 hours' march in a 

 north-eastern direction the mountain-ridge of Watu Loko was reached 

 in the neighbourhood of Ekofeto. The next morning, a short time 

 before their departure, they had to sustain an assault in which 

 Van Schelle and Kleian were wounded by sword -thrusts. In a 

 forced march the expedition drew back to the Aiméré Bay, which 

 they left in the afternoon of the 17"» to sail back to Kupang'). 



From the information he had obtained Van Schei>le came to the 

 conclusion "1^^ that none of the Endehnese, who had visited the 

 "coast-region of Rokka and the neighbouring Mangarai knew anything 

 "of an importation of tin under any form whatsever. 2'"^^ that the 

 "mountaineers of these regions with whom they came into contact 

 "possess tin ornaments, and use likewise tin to make their fishing- 



1) This gentleman undertook in 1889 a scientific journey by order of the Kon. 

 Nederl. Aardrijkskundig Genootschap Tiie results obtained have however never 

 been published. 



-) Koloniaal Verslag van 1890, page 21. — Verslag van het Mijnwezen over het 

 4e kwartaal 1889, p. 11. — J. C. van Schelle. Verslag van het onderzoek 

 naar het voorkomen van tinertshoudende gronden op Flores. Extra-Bijvoegsel der 

 Javasche Courant. Batavia 1890, No. 10. — Tijdschr. voor Nederlandsch-Indië 

 1890. 2, p. 77 —79. — Th. Posewitz. Die niederlandisch-indische Zinnerzexpedition 

 auf Flores. Das Ausland 64. Stuttgart 1891, p. 145—149. 



